The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Azalea, botanically known as Rhododendron hybrida, an evergreen greenhouse-forcing type Azalea, and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Pearls’.
The new Azalea is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Azalea varieties having uniform plant habit, profuse and uniform flowering response, dark green foliage, good foliage retention during the cooling and forcing periods, resistance to Cylindrocladium and excellent postproduction longevity.
The new Azalea originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in February, 1995, in Alva, Fla., of the Azalea cultivar Athena, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,439, as the female, or seed, parent with the Azalea cultivar Solitaire, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 3,171, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Azalea was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. in October, 1997.
Asexual reproduction of the new Azalea by terminal cuttings taken in controlled environment in Alva, Fla. since February, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Azalea are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.